Share the Wealth

I am not active in the social networking world with the exception of LinkedIn which
I use occasionally. However, I believe it is important for creative professionals to embrace social networking to a point, provided it is used as a tool to help further your real objective, to get your ideas out into the world.

One thing that has bothered me a bit about sites like Facebook and MySpace is the valuations the owners are getting for these sites. All the content and contacts are not, in my opinion (legal claims notwithstanding), the property of anyone except for the members.

Fresh Eyes Idea: If I were to start a new social networking site, I would issue a share of stock to every member that joined. It would be a corporation owned and managed by the shareholders, who are also the members. They are both the creators and consumers of the value lying within the site and should be rewarded for all the value created.

Now, let it be known that I am a capitalist at heart, but I do believe in value exchange. The current social networking business model seems skewed and it is one of the reasons the members tend to revolt whenever a new scheme to monetize a site is proposed. By sharing the wealth, I think there would be more tolerance of income generating ideas for the sites.

What business models could you create that shared the wealth?